Articles

On Saturday, I met up with the rest of the “Obreedience” team at the KC Hall at Stoneleigh, where, for the first time, all the teams met for a dress rehearsal of the Crufts competition. It was quite a long day, but it was good to get in a bit more practice, and encouraging to watch the other teams work as well. Certainly everyone was taking the whole event very seriously, and it was apparent that a lot of work has been put in by all the teams. Sadly, the Spanish Water dogs only had one member present, as 3 of their team come from the Channel Isles, and so they will only get together on the day, but there was a lot of precision heelwork on display, and our team leader, Maggie Spencer, happily recovering from her short-term medical problems, called for an extra training session for us. Although it is a great pity that we aren’t showing all three colours of our breed, having four black and gold dogs together makes a good spectacle. I think I may have already said, but the team is Maggie with Dollar, Janet Pearce with Obi, Paula Foakes with Merlot, and I have Acorn. The travelling reserve is Maggie’s niece Georgie with Gracie, and she was being targeted by the TV people for the younger perspective on the whole proceedings.
News has just come through that James Dunn has retired Venka from the NSARDA Kent team, after several years’ service and over 150 searches. James and Venka were very much pioneers in the field of lowland searching, but happily they leave 5 full grade search dogs in Kent, so their legacy will be on-going for years to come. We in the breed should be very proud of their achievements, and indeed the Club recognised them by the award of the Tia Trophy in 2009. James is going to start again with a youngster, and Caroline has it in mind to register Venka as a PAT dog, as she will still be doing a public service, albeit at a slightly gentler pace.
We have also received a plea from Club member Eva Michalova from the Czech Republic for anyone in a position to offer her friend’s daughter a place in the summer, either as an au paire, or perhaps on a farm. Eva says that salary is not an issue because Kate (18) is keen to improve her English. She has a couple of months for this, August and September, and if anyone would like more information, do please get in touch with me.
Elaine Betts 01 544 318705 elaine@pineshovawarts.co.uk